“My boss just discovered TED and asked if there is anything like it in the library world. Gave a qualified "yes and no." Thoughts?”
18 hours ago
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RudĩϐЯaЯïaȵ, Librarienne, Jenny Levine and 2 other people liked this
First, happy birthday. Second, what was the "yes" part of your answer? Third, should we create a library TED? - Qui-Gon Binks Lawson
thanks! i'm not as familiar with TED as I should be, so the "yes" part was that we have pockets of this sort of thing happening in the library/info world (educause? webjunction? lita? code4lib?), but the "no" part was that we don't have the star-power or organization that a TED has. Third -- YES! - Jason Kucsma
OK. Let's do it. TED library-style in 2010. - Qui-Gon Binks Lawson
So we ask all of the "brightest people" in librarianship to pay top dollar to assemble and listen to each other give inspiring presentations? I'll need some convincing. Anyway, the real magic of TED is in its interdisciplinary nature. I'm not sure that bringing together the various areas of librarianship would be nearly as powerful for all involved. Maybe I'm wrong. But you can be sure that an invite-only event in insecurity-driven library land would go over well. - Greg Schwartz
Good points, Greg. What if we brought in people on the fringes of libraries? I'd love to hear Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Rick and Meg Prelinger and others talk. And even if we had to pay most of the speakers, I doubt they would command the kind of money that, say, Al Gore does. - Qui-Gon Binks Lawson
i've thought it would be cool to send a librarian to speak at TED. Who would it be? (assuming all we had to do was nominate them, that is) - Stephanie__=^-^=
I agree with most of your points, Greg, but I'll note that bringing together the folks behind the best projects in gaming in libraries at an interdisciplinary conference (the Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium) has been a huge success. Participants often note in the evaluations that they appreciate that aspect of it. - Jenny Levine
One of the things that I've liked about recent Digital Library Federation Forums (yes, I know, it's limited in terms of who can go) is that Peter Brantley has brought on some great people at the edges: Creative Commons folks, Prelinger, Joel Selanikio of DataDyne (who if you ever get a chance to hear, definitely go!) and others. It's been great to have that mix of library / non-library but in the library space folks. - Sarah
I would really like a library-flavored TED-type event. Even as a track or day at another conference, the idea of bringing together big thinkers dealing with new ideas who can present really well is exciting. Could be fun... - lauren pressley
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